Make Hagrid proud.
The newly-launched Hogwarts Legacy may primarily be a Harry Potter RPG, but partway through the 30-hour story you’ll find it’s something of a zoo management simulator also.
Yes, unlike in the books where the students had a more mixed reaction, in Hogwarts Legacy the Care of Magical Creatures classes are a real highlight, and soon you have free reign to breed and raise your own Potter-themed pets.
However, there are a few hoops you have to jump through before you’re qualified to handle some of these fantastic beasts, so here’s how to go all Newt Scamander and breed creatures in Hogwarts Legacy.
How to breed beasts in Hogwarts Legacy
You’ll have to complete a few quests in order to get access to the Room of Requirement, a Vivarium and the breeding mechanic.
To unlock the ability to breed beasts in Hogwarts Legacy, look for these quests and tick them off as soon as you can:
- The Elf, The Nab-Sack, and the Loom
- The Plight of the House-Elf
- Foal of the Dead
You should be all clued up on magical creatures now, and you will also be able to buy a Beast Breeding Pen (from the Tomes and Scroll shop in Hogsmeade) to place in your Vivarium.
Now all you need are the beasts themselves, which you should have been taught how to catch using a Nab-sack. You’ll need a male and a female of the same species in order to breed, which should then be placed in – you guessed it – the Beast Breeding Pen in the Room of Requirement.
You can’t be interrupting, however. You’ll then have to wait 30 real-time minutes for the breeding process to finish. You can breed four pairs of species per Vivarium, so make sure it’s not too crowded!
All the beasts you can breed in Hogwarts Legacy
Not all beasts in Hogwarts Legacy can breed, so you’ll be limited to only 12 species which can make cute babies for you. Seeing as there is a trophy/achievement linked to breeding every possible species, this may well come as a relief!
The trophy is called The Nature of the Beast and requires you to breed all types of beasts. You should breed Thestrals as part of the Foal of the Dead quest, leaving you with 11 species to go.
Breeding is also a great way to get hold of gold in Hogwarts Legacy – so you may want to keep an eye out for the below species that can breed:
- Graphorn
- Diricawl
- Thestral
- Kneazle
- Mooncal
- Fwooper
- Niffler
- Jobberknoll
- Giant Purple Toad
- Unicorn
- Hippogriff
- Puffskein
Can you breed the Phoenix in Hogwarts Legacy?
The Phoenix is, of course, one of the most iconic beasts in Harry Potter and indeed all of fantasy, so it’s only fitting that you’d want to breed as many as possible.
Sadly, however, you cannot breed the Phoenix in Hogwarts Legacy as there is only one available in-game for you to catch. The Phoenix is the only beast in the game that you cannot breed.
We think it helps make the Phoenix special, however. The mythical birds would be far less revered if everyone had access to them and their healing powers.
Read more on Hogwarts Legacy:
- Hogwarts Legacy review – our full verdict
- Hogwarts Legacy potions – all recipes to know
- Hogwarts Legacy plants – what do they do?
- Hogwarts Legacy level cap – how to spent talent points
- Hogwarts Legacy trophies – the achievements you need
- Hogwarts Legacy release date – staggered launch explained
- Hogwarts Legacy cast – Simon Pegg and more
- Hogwarts Legacy house sorting quiz – take the test
- Hogwarts Legacy character creator – customisation revealed
- Hogwarts Legacy common rooms – tour all four
- Who is Phineas Nigellus Black? Sirius ancestor explained
- Hogwarts Legacy year – when is it set?
- Hogwarts Legacy multiplayer – is it co-op?
- Hogwarts Legacy Switch – handheld version explained
- Hogwarts Legacy PC requirements – the specs you need
- Hogwarts Legacy Deluxe Edition – all perks
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